After waiting forty-five years for my local gaming store to get its act together and order me a Rigger 2 book, I finally gave up and purchased it through Amazon.com which, using some sort of teleportation device, managed to get my shipment to me before I had even finished placing my order. (Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit. Still, these people are FAST.) I read through a majority of the book, saving the general rigging section for last, and found that the new specialized rules, while traditionally overcomplicated, were still workable and answered many questions that traditionally ate away at my SR vehicular sanity. Then I made the mistake of turning to the general rigging section.

Over the years I’ve perfected a particular contorted facial expression I wear when trying to solve complicated mathematical problems such as advanced three dimensional Boolean subtraction, overlapping time-frame transparency dissolves, and figuring out how much 20% of $4.27 is at the local diner. I wore an especially contorted version of this expression while attempting to decipher the general rigging turn sequence rules presented in Rigger 2; a set of rules that seemed to require a minimum of 21 different mathematical computations just to determine whether or not you’ve successfully made a right turn.

Now, don’t get me wrong: I really like the Rigger 2 book. It addresses just about every rigging issue I can possibly think of, has a good set of vehicle construction rules, and contains a picture of an arachnoid drone that sent my spider oriented friend, Jill, into a state of near orgasmic ecstasy. But, damnit, what the hell happened with the general rigging rules?

After conducting an extensive survey involving me asking a few people in #shadowrun what they thought of the rules, I’ve determined that I’m not alone in my angst. The general consensus seems to be that sometimes FASA gets a bit out of hand with their rule complexity. This problem is usually dealt with via a therapeutic two stage process involving, A: Bitching about it on #shadowrun or in E-Mail directed at me, some of which contain text digitally blurred by spittle of anger, and B: Changing the rules.

Changing the rules is a long standing tradition among role-players, dating back to the gamers of the ancient Mediterranean who took a popular, over complicated role-playing manual, known as the Bible, and created a much simpler version which could be understood and followed by people of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds. Unfortunately these early role-players were quickly arrested, tied to stakes and set on fire because they forgot to add the “Bible is a Trademark of GOD Corporation. Used without permission.” disclaimer at the bottom of their work. Their writing was lost for centuries until it was rediscovered by an obscure 20th century prophet named Shel Silverstein and published under the title Where The Sidewalk Ends.

So we can see that playing with the rules is a tricky process, and not just because it can result in a fiery death. Moreover, it can result in the pissing off of your players, which can often be much more painful than destruction by flame.

Even if you’re running a relatively free-form game, some sort of semi-stable rule system tends to be essential to the happiness of your players. If the players don’t have something concrete (such as a die roll) that tells them whether or not the task they just preformed is effective, it’s easy for them to develop the sentiment that their skills, decisions, and general actions aren’t all that important to the game. It also deadens the anxiety created when a single die roll - a single act of skill - may mean the difference between life and death, success or failure.

Once you start playing around with the rules you can fog up the players perceptions of how the game, on its most basic level, operates. The players might have difficulty performing simple actions because they’re not only confused about how to instigate them but are also concerned about the myriad of seemingly arbitrary outcomes. It’d be like trying to drive across town and suddenly discovering that half the roads are blocked, all the one way streets are going in the opposite direction, and a cop has pulled you over because the speed limit has been dropped to 5 mph, even though the signs still say 30. Had you known all this in advance, you probably would have just walked.

In other words, before you go changing any rules at all it is important to A: Let your players know about the changes, and B: Listen for feedback to make sure these new rule variations aren’t confusing anyone. Sometimes a rule change that seems logical in the mind of the gamemaster may make no sense at all to the players. Gamemasters are constantly searching for new ways to make their job easier, and the rules tend to be the first target in any simplification effort. And since the GM tends to make a much larger number of die rolls per game than even the most active player, the temptation to nix some of these rolls in the name of something less concrete may be quite powerful. But, to the player, the rule the GM just nixed may be the only reason they have to use, say, their I/O processor. So you have to be careful.

Usually good communication with your players is enough to make introducing new rules a relatively non-violent activity. Unless, of course, you have a Rules Freak in your group.

Rules Freaks are individuals who, regardless of how annoying or illogical a printed rule may be, absolutely refuses to accept changes. Even if, due to a misprint, the main rulebook states that a Westwind 2000 costs 200 nuyen and a Stim Patch goes for 50k, the Rule Freak would insist on following the printed text, as if it were the Koran or something. I’ve found that the best way to deal with rule freaks is to bury them up to their necks in mud and then dump a bucket of fire ants onto their head. But, if you don’t have any fire ants available, you could also try using the flawed rule (i.e. the one they won’t let you revise) against them in some clandestine way. I’ve found that it’s best to place them in a life or death situation which would have resulted a reduced number of unnatural bodily holes had the rule variation I proposed been used.

Of course, everything I’ve said above is written with the assumption that your players like a rule based system. Even though I use a lot of free forming in my game, my system of Gamemastering is still rooted in a modified version of the original Shadowrun rules. So if you don’t need to use rules, or don’t receive any complaints when you arbitrarily change or abandon them, then don’t worry about it.

And if you’re a member of one of the few shadowrunning groups who still use the original, unmodified FASA rule system I not only have a lot or respect for your dedication, but also wish you luck in your return voyage to whatever foreign planet you originated from.